massage culture

After the trip to Chanchun the other week, my neck, right shoulder and half of my back were absolutely killing me and I couldn't turn my head at all. I ended up getting a massage at a foot massage parlor the day after I got back, getting acupuncture, cupping and a massage the following day from a therapist and getting another massage along with a scrub the day after that at a bath house. On top of all that, some friends and students had some other remedies for me as well.

This might make the whole thing seem a lot more serious that it really was, but it's really more of a reflection of the culture here. Chinese always want to go to the doctor for the littlest thing and are really big on taking care of your body. I think of it as "massage culture." Before coming to China, I'd say I've had less than 15 massages in my entire life. Here, I go about once a week, most of the foreigners do.

Foot massage places are kind of a hybrid between western pedicure salons and massage parlors. Pretty sure I've described one on here before, but oh well. They have rooms of varying sizes that you go in with your friends, there are a certain number of bed/cot type things in each. They all have pillows and heavy comforters. You can wear pajama type clothing that they supply, but usually you just wear your own clothes the whole time. The lights are usually on high and there is usually a tv playing a random program or the news.

First they soak your feet in a bucket that they put at the foot of your bed. While your feet are soaking, they give you a neck and shoulder massage. Massages here are not slow, deep, relaxing, or really any other adjective I might use to describe one in the States. If I had to guess, I'd say a lot of the people giving them here have no training or certification either. Massages are usually very hard, quick and vigorous. There is also a lot of shaking and thumping involved and maybe a little stretching. We took a new foreigner to the foot massage place when we went the other day and she absolutely hated it at first (as did I actually).

After that bit, you lay down and they massage your feet with lotion. Then they move up and do the rest of your body over your clothes, front and back. Foot massage parlors will usually also do guasha, cupping, ear candles and maybe acupuncture. They range in price, the one a lot of foreigners go to here is 60 kwai (so like $9.50) for 70 minutes. They are a great place to practice your Chinese, because they are a captive audience, they usually want to talk to you and sometimes they know a tiny bit of English.

The second place I went last week was to see an actual Chinese therapist. His office was in his home, which is normal here, and he had certifications, diagrams of the body and stuff like that on the wall that you might expect to see in a western therapist's office. One of my Oil Adults 2 students took me there, as he knew I wanted to try acupuncture.

When the guy explained to him what was wrong with my neck, he said I needed a massage, not acupuncture. The massage was great, definitely Chinese style, but he really got at the knots in my shoulders and gave me good advice (i.e. stop carrying my laptop everywhere). He cracked my neck and shoulders a LOT, much in the way I imagine a chiropractor would. At one point he was climbing up on my chair to hover over me, hugging my head while my student held my chair still and he told me not to be afraid, lol. It felt amazing.

Afterwards, he did some general acupuncture for me. He said I was very brave, many Chinese won't even try acupuncture. Typically if they do try it, it's only when something needs fixing or they are sick. He put maybe 30 needles in me and left them in for about 30 minutes. They didn't hurt going in, it just felt like pressure. If he would tap or twist them it felt kind of crazy. I could feel the needles in other parts of my body, where there were no needles, and when they moved it felt like I was getting shocked, radiating from the needles. Not in a painful way, more in a static shock kind of way. I can't say if I actually saw any effects from this after or in the next few days though.

After that, my student talked me into trying cupping (again). He asked if I had a high pain tolerance and when I said yes, he used the bamboo cups, which are said to be the most painful with the least give. They weren't painful exactly, just really uncomfortable, like they suck your skin in a lot tighter. I didn't have any really crazy bruising though, so the therapist said I was young and healthy. I have no clue how much that whole experience cost, because my student put it on his wife's account, ha!

The following day I got my third massage for the week at the bath house. This was my first bath house experience in China, I had only been to the one in Korea previously. I'd actually be wanting to go for a while, but all the females I know I either am not comfortable being naked around or they weren't comfortable being naked around friends. If I go with the guys, we can meet up in the coed parts where you wear pajama type clothes and play cards, go in the sauna, lay in heated rock beds together and talk, etc. but the other parts, like the showers, steam rooms and scrubs, I'd be alone for.

The bath house in Korea completely showed this one up. The women's area was small and more like a locker room than anything else. Chinese bath houses don't have pools on the ladies' sides, so really all you do is take a shower in a big room with everyone else and maybe get a massage or a scrub or something. My friend that had been before recommended a body mask if I was willing to spend some money, so I tried it and was pretty disappointed. I don't know that I'll go back. I was spoiled in Korea!

The final thing I tried to fix my neck were these patches with Chinese medincine that you stick on muscles that hurt and leave for maybe 12 hours. There are different varieties and I have no idea what the medicine is. It just seeps into your pores. One of them had a really herby smell and made the area around it kind of cold, which was cool. I think that one helped the most.